The disclosures herein relate generally to space frames and more particularly to a cladding support apparatus and method for forming an unobstructed surface on the space frame for attaching cladding material thereto.
In space frame construction, a generally cylindrical hub includes a plurality of outwardly directed slots extending along the peripheral surface of the hub. The slots have opposed ribbed surfaces. Tubular frame members are flattened and crimped at their opposed ends. The crimped ends include elongated flat surfaces extending outwardly, or away from each other. The crimped ends are ribbed in a pattern which can be mated into engagement with the ribs in the hub slots. In this manner, each end of a tubular frame member may be slidably inserted into a respective hub slot and several tubular frame members may be connected at one end to a hub slot to form a spider, i.e., a hub having a plurality of tubes extending outwardly therefrom, each tube terminating at a free end.
The free end of each tube can be similarly connected to another hub. Thus, a framework of interconnected spiders formed of tubes and hubs can be joined to form a pre-assembled or modular section of a flat roof, a domed roof; a wall, etc., to be joined with other sections to eventually form a complete structure. The structure, once completed is then covered with a selected cladding which is attached to the structural framework by means of an interfacing cladding support system.
The cladding may be fabric, corrugated steel plates, glass, and other selected materials, and may include combinations of these materials for architectural design purposes. For example, a domed roof may be clad with steel and may include a pattern of glass panels in a portion of the roof which has an aesthetic effect when viewed from the interior of the structure.
It is important that the interfacing cladding support system establish a substantially unobstructed surface for supporting the cladding material so as to provide a smooth cladding surface. As such, the cladding support system is superimposed on the framework to avoid protruding elements of the framework. For example, washers are mounted on opposite ends of the hubs to close the ends of the hub slots and retain the crimped ends of the tubular frame members. These washers are retained by bolts which have ends protruding above the hub and washer. In addition, the support members have uneven surfaces, e.g., the flattened ends of the tubular support members extend above the arcuate surfaces of the tubular support members.
To accommodate these uneven surfaces and protrusions, cladding support systems have been provided which suspend cladding support members in raised relationship spaced from the space frame elements. Such cladding support systems are expensive and difficult to install because of the number of parts required. Also, the spatial relationship between the space frame and the cladding support members is often flexible and as such is not sufficiently rigid for providing satisfactory support for the cladding material.
Therefore, what is needed is an apparatus and method of providing a cladding support system which includes support elements seated directly on the space frame members and which also avoids protrusions and uneven surfaces of the frame members so as to provide an unobstructed surface on the space frame for attaching cladding material thereto.